"My daily life is filled with gay men and women, both socially and professionally," he said in a blog statement released through GLAAD. "I am profoundly aware of the challenges these friends of mine face and I have openly advocated on their behalf. So, I can only apologize and I do. In comedy, timing is everything."

Alexander’s remarks came in Friday’s show in which he told host Craig Ferguson that aspects of cricket make it a “gay game” compared to other sports.

"It's the pitch," Alexander told Ferguson. "It's the weirdest… It's not like a manly baseball pitch; it's a queer British gay pitch."